The Demand Waterfall became the foundation for mounting complexity in B2B organizations:
What It Created
- Artificial Stages: MQL, SQL, and other manufactured categories
- Salesforce Dependency: Enterprise CRM complexity requiring armies of consultants
- Tool Fragmentation: 15+ SaaS tools creating data silos
- Industrial-Age Thinking: Standardization and control fighting digital-era value flow
- AI Complexity Multiplication: New capabilities bolted onto broken foundations
The Problem
Mid-market organizations became trapped between enterprise complexity they can’t afford and point solutions that don’t integrate, while consultants profit from maintaining the complexity rather than solving it.
The Alternative
The Value Path replaces the Demand Waterfall with natural human progression stages that match actual buying behavior.